Hydrogen Peroxide To Blame For Green Rio Swimming Pools

Olympic officials finally gave a definitive reason as to why the water in two of its competition pools turned green. According to officials, on Aug. 5, someone accidentally added 160 liters of hydrogen peroxide, which neutralized the chlorine and let organic compounds grow including algae.

Saturday, the diving pool water still had a murky bottle green color to it. However, the water in the pool for synchronized swimming and water polo was a bit bluer and lighter. Athletes have complained that the water or chemicals have hurt their eyes, and the murkiness makes it difficult to see underwater.

In synchronized swimming, athletes must be able to see each other under the surface. This part of the game is set to begin Sunday. Rio Games spokesman Mario Andrada said for the competition to go on as scheduled, officials are going to drain all 3.725 liters of water from it and replace the water with a nearby practice pool.

According to Gustavo Nascimento, Rio Olympics director of venue management, the entire process will take up to 10 hours – six hours for pool draining and four hours to fill it back up.

Both Andrada and Nascimento responded to reports that the officials hadn’t been clear enough about the problem and unable to solve it fast enough. Both side they didn’t want to place any blame for the accident. It appears that a local pool maintenance worker believed he was doing the right thing when he added in the hydrogen peroxide.

Nascimento said hydrogen peroxide is a good pool cleaning agent but not when combined with chlorine. When athletes began to use the pools, it goes the growth of the organic compounds. Officials would not say what these compounds were.

Nascimento said the electronic monitoring system that keeps an eye on how much chlorine was in the water had been betrayed, and these systems didn’t notice the chlorine wasn’t working any longer working.

Andrada said it was embarrassing not to have the issue cleared up by now. He said the country is hosting the Olympic Games and water is an issue. He said it’s a painful lesson for them to learn.

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on Aug 14 2016. Filed under New, Sports.
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